ACADEMIA
As a researcher my interests draw on human geography, sociology, and design studies, fields I covered during my studies. I am especially interested in hybrid spaces that encompass both the digital and physical realm, alternative and social spaces produced through people’s practices, and utopias juxtaposed to everyday life.
Producing hybrid space by Negotiating Binaries through social practice
My master's thesis starts with the initial motivation to investigate digital platforms as public spaces. It draws on several prominent scholars of sociology, geography, and philosophy, such as Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre, Erving Goffman, and Sarah Ahmed. At the example of a small community of cosplayers in Düsseldorf, I investigate how marginalized people negotiate the binaries of what is considered real/imaginary, normal/other, and public/private within a hybrid space that is constituted of digital and physical practices. In doing so, I argue that cosplayers are creating a hybrid heterotopia, an “enacted utopia” that sits at the intersection of these binaries, apart yet connected to other spaces of society.
APPROPRIATION as a path towards utopia
In this essay, I focus on the question of whether the act of appropriation could serve as a path toward utopia, by discussing several concepts of the famous French philosopher, Marxist, and sociologist Henri Lefebvre. As cities have always been closely linked to humanity’s visions of the future, the urban is oftentimes perceived as a place that accumulates the technological, social, and political potential for both utopia and dystopia. And while our cities sometimes seem further away from utopia than ever, calls and actions towards change have never been louder and are expressed through social media, protests, and do-it-yourself urbanism. By focusing on the latter, my essay presents the question of whether practices of appropriation possess the potential for change and could provide a path toward a better world.
THE POLITICALNESS OF DESIGN FRAMEWORKS
In a collective effort, this research project discusses design frameworks as designed and socially constructed objects, which both shape and are conditioned by their wider context. This is done at the example of Jobs To Be Done, which is illustrated through three different cases of practitioners, their interpretations, and applications of the framework. In this paper assemblage theory and Actor-Network-Theory are serving as theoretical perspectives through which to establish the general ontology of design frameworks. For the analysis, the Social Construction of Technology, Multi-Level Perspective, and a Political Theory of Design are employed to explore the framework’s relationship to its wider context, to dominant narratives, as well as the designer’s role in both. The article closes with a chapter of practical proposals for the use of JTBD and design frameworks overall, drawing especially on a Political Theory of Design and calling for a reflexive and responsible stance of the designer.
understanding URBAN CHANGE In sydhavn
This collective research project focuses on how people experience and negotiate urban change, looking specifically at the case of Sydhavn, a neighborhood located in Copenhagen. After identifying a lack of qualitative data on urban change, we explore the residents’ experience and perception of their neighborhood through the sense of place and assemblage theories. Using the metaphor of botanical cultivation for understanding the cultivation of a neighborhood, we look into the three main aspects of materiality, practices, and social context to analyze how the resident’s sense of place is challenged by urban change. With this study, we aim to bring an understanding of the complex relationships between a neighborhood and its residents affected by urban change and the importance of qualitative data for further research on that subject.